How to treat damaged hair

A_Couple_In_Love

The best way is to just cut right back on the straightening, keep using the mask on your hair, use a heat protecting product on your hair while it's wet before you dry it e.g. tressemme heat spray or a serum.

I used to have really badly damaged hair because of straightening it all the time, so i thought i would try not to straighten my hair for 3 weeks straight (it killed me not to use them) but since i decided to do that i havent had dry/damaged hair since. I only ever straighten my hair on special occasions now and it doesnt seem to bother my hair when i do use them.

So my main advice to you would be to cut back on the straighteners all together for a while, it may kill you to have fluffy hair but if you can get through them couple of weeks your hair will go back to it's normal healthy state and also will become more less fluffy as the days go on.

Hope this helps.

Fire_Fox

sixtiesgal wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. The only thing when I don't use heat on my hair it goes really awful like a puff ball but then the straightners don't make it poker straight anyway. What's the best sulphate free shampoo and should I use normal conditioner or just coconut oil? I'm using hair masks from the salon, my hairdresser says masks are the only thing that will work even store bought ones so I know she's not just promoting her own. Also being in the menopause doesn't help either.

Thanks for your replies, do you think its not worth keep using the salon hair care and go with something more natural? I will look into the argan oil and V05 as well as coconut oil, my Mum always used to rub coconut oil into her hair after she'd washed it but she put it on her hair when it was dry, is that how you you use it?

The more damaged your hair the stronger the negative charge and the more ruffled the cuticle so it will be poofy. Why not work with your natural wave instead of against it? Menopause is nowhere near as damaging as straighteners.

Cocoamidopropyl betaine is the gentlest surfactant I know, no oils or silicones in this product to disguise the stripping effect as there are in most commercial shampoos
http://www.naturallythinking.com/products/Shampoo-SLS-free-Extra-Mild.html

You can use coconut oil on wet, dry or damp hair, do use some heat (shower cap plus microfibre towel turban overnight) to open to the cuticle and allow the lauric acid to penetrate. I'm not just giving you an old wive's tale here, there is research to back it up. I highly recommend the 'Curl Chemist' articles on NaturallCurly.com - they are useful to anyone who is interested in evidence-based haircare.

j.e.j.

I agree that heat (and possibly hair dye/bleach?) is probably causing the damage. I used to use the Aussie range of products years ago when I used to get damaged hair and split ends. They did one called 3-minute-miracle which was basically a hair treatment sachet. Nothing, however, will repair split ends, - they need to be snipped off.

TinyDancer_2

My hair was very badly damaged three years ago, my hair was over processed with all chemicals of colouring. my hair is very thick so it was knotty up badly as the hair at the ends were dead.
My hairdresser had to cut my hair very short to a pixie style, almost shorter than a bob . I cried when i seen all my dead hair on the hairdresser floor, i couldnt understand what had happen.my hairdresser even considred shaving my head, because all my hair was dead. after getting it cut my hairdresser used to put treatments on it every 3 days for me. it was costing me a lot money, for her to do it.
so i decided to treat my own hair after she had cut it and got rid of the dead hair, she put my hair back to its natural colour.
i use a mixture of treatments weekly on my hair because when my hair was bad it made me feel bad. as a woman i feel like our hair is part of our statement so when my hair was bad i was feeling bad about myself, i couldnt really go out socially becasue i was embarssed.
since then i use a mixture of cheap and high end treatments for my hair and my hair is back to normal now its back to having some colour in and its back to normal length over my shoulders.
get a nice thick treatment i use james brown intensive moisture mask and i mix it with some argan oil,from the lee stafford range, i usually apply it to my hair and leave it my hair for two days. if im going out i just tie my hair back.everyone's hair is differnt so try everything until you find something that works. hope that helps

sixtiesgal_2

Thank you for your helpful replies. My hair is highlighted now after years of having it darker but now I am going grey I find having it highlighted makes the grey not show through as quick, hence meaning having to go to the salon less and saving some money. My hairdresser was at first reluctant to put bleach on it but then decided do it a caramel colour so that damage wouldn't be too bad, she is a very careful stylist and I do trust her not to damage my hair.

I do get what you say about the heat though. I will give it a quick blast with the cool setting on my hairdryer as I haven't always got time to let it all dry naturally before going out but I am going to give the GHDs a miss and treat my hair more gently. I shall look into the coconut oil and continue to use treatments. I do have regular trims but don't want my hair cutting too short as it doesn't suit me, its currently just above my shoulders but I like some length so that I can tie it up.

Fire_Fox

sixtiesgal wrote: »

Thank you for your helpful replies. My hair is highlighted now after years of having it darker but now I am going grey I find having it highlighted makes the grey not show through as quick, hence meaning having to go to the salon less and saving some money. My hairdresser was at first reluctant to put bleach on it but then decided do it a caramel colour so that damage wouldn't be too bad, she is a very careful stylist and I do trust her not to damage my hair.

I do get what you say about the heat though. I will give it a quick blast with the cool setting on my hairdryer as I haven't always got time to let it all dry naturally before going out but I am going to give the GHDs a miss and treat my hair more gently. I shall look into the coconut oil and continue to use treatments. I do have regular trims but don't want my hair cutting too short as it doesn't suit me, its currently just above my shoulders but I like some length so that I can tie it up.

Sounds good! Have you thought about have a full head tint with just root touch ups each time? Highlighting necessarily means bleach is applied over areas that have previously been bleach damaged, sometimes an area will be hit many times over the course of a year or two. Every time hair is bleached it loses some of the core structural proteins, protective cuticle and fatty acids that hold everything together which weakens the hair.